Brand

Boss

BOSS began in Osaka in 1973 as MEG Electronics, a company dedicated to effects. Its first BOSS-branded effect was the CE-1 Chorus Ensemble in 1976; the OD-1, SP-1 and PH-1 launched the compact-effects series in 1977. The JustPedals catalogue includes familiar overdrives and distortions such as the OD-3, SD-1, BD-2, DS-1 and MT-2 Metal Zone, as well as utility items such as the PCS-20A cable. BOSS now spans compact pedals, multi-effects, loopers, tuners and controllers. Manufacturing origin should be checked by model rather than inferred from the brand’s Japanese history.

Category

Specialist Effects Pedals

Specialist effects alter the signal in ways that do not sit cleanly inside one established family. They may use granular processing, frequency shifting, resonators, freeze or sustain, bit reduction, ring modulation, feedback networks or combinations of several techniques. The relevant distinction is the underlying process, its tracking or latency, and how completely the dry signal can be blended or replaced.